JENIN: Israeli troops killed three Palestinians during an overnight raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, the military said today.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed at least one death in the Israeli operation, the latest in a months-long military crackdown across the occupied West Bank since Hamas’s Oct 7 attack on Israel.
“In a joint counter-terrorism activity in the city of Jenin, IDF soldiers apprehended 14 suspects, killed three terrorists and struck additional terrorists,” the army said in a statement.
“During the activity, the soldiers located weapons and exposed explosive devices planted under routes in order to attack IDF soldiers.”
It said soldiers came under fire during the operation and an Israeli aircraft struck rebels.
The Palestinians’ official news agency Wafa said that Israeli troops stormed the city during the night.
“An undercover Israeli force besieged two houses in the camp sparking violent confrontations during which three Palestinians were also injured,” Wafa said, adding that troops also struck “a house with a missile” in the city’s refugee camp.
Jenin has been the focus of repeated Israeli raids which have often led to clashes with Palestinians.
The city’s refugee camp is one of the most crowded and impoverished in the West Bank and has become a hub of rebel activity.
Violence was already on the increase across the West Bank and has only escalated since the war in Gaza erupted.
The territory has seen frequent Palestinian attacks on Israelis and near-daily raids by the Israeli military that often turn deadly.
Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 400 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.
Israel captured the West Bank – including east Jerusalem, which it later annexed – in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967.
The Palestinians claim the territory as the heartland of their future independent state.
